Explosive and method of making same.



'ni't -ated with cellulose or lignose, shit-asking Nl'TED TATES ATENT@ssinri.

JONAS n. nLoMEN AND HENRY c. ASPINWALL, on POMPTON TOWNSHIP,-

NEW JERSEY.

EXPLOSIVE AND stereos or MAE/{ENG SAME.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 674,291, dated May 14,1901.

Application filed June 27, F900. serial D10. 21,70'9. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern:

lBe it known that we, JONAS EMILE BLo-, MEN and HENRY O. ASPINWALL,citizens of fui Base for High Explosives and Method of Making Same,ofwhich the following is a speci- Gui-invention relates to a highexplosive and method of making same, which high ex plosive may form abase for other high explosives or for celluloid compounds.

Our object is to produce an explosive which we can regulate in such amanner as to obtaina greater or lesser degree of force, as may bedesired or may be most suitable for the purpose for which it may beintended, and to produce hn explosive that can be safely manufacturedand'haudled and at a relatively low cost.

The nitration of organic substances by means of suitable acids is wellknown. Heretofore such substances have been nitrated singly and definiteresults 'have been obtained, such as nitroglycerin, nitrocellulose,nitrobenaene, and. others. Ourinvention contemplates, broadly speaking,the nitration of two or more substances together or, in other words, theco-nitration bforganio substances.

As the result of many experiments we have discovered that it ispracticable to co-nitrate two or more organic substances.

The co-nitration of any two or more of the without raising the questionas to whether it is-technically included in the term cellulose or not. v

As examples of the aromatic hydrocarbons we mention benzene, toluene,and naphthalene and of the hydroxyl derivatives of the hydrocarbonsphenoland cresol. When one orinore of the aromatic hydrocarbons or. thehydroxyl derivatives, are cofollowing substances-cellulose, an aromaticvent effect of the co-nitrated substaucesupon each other which we havealready mentioned results in an intimate mixture partially or whollydissolved together, forming a colloidal mass. This colloiding will bemore or less complete, depending upon the proportions of the cellu loseand thearomatic hydrocarbons or the hydroxyl derivatives of thehydrocarbons. The product obtained by these means has been found to becomparatively insensitive to shock or friction and is the explosive basesoughtand which forms the subject-matter of this application. Theexplosive thus The explosive eifect of nitrocellulose" up, rending, ortearing of the fibers is formed may be made to fulfil other requirementsof an explosive substance, as follows: We may add one or more oftheoxygen-bearing salts-such, for example, as. the nitrates,

: the chlorates, or the perchlorates of barium, .sodiu m, potassium, andammonium. We may also add an inert organicsubstance--such aseamphor,vaseline, petrolatum, or castor-oilshould we desire to'produce acelluloid'or.

should we desire to slow down the combustion and ohtaiii a less-violentexplosive. The

addition of the oxygen-bearing salts or inert organic substances mayreadily be elfec'ted by' means of any of the well-known apparatuses formixing or incorporating substances. The addition'may be effected in adry state orthe substances may be wet or the co-nitrated product may bewholly or partially dissolved in a solvent and the substances thenadded.

As an example of the solvents that can be,

used may be mentioned acetona-amylaoetate,

"methyl alcohol, or acetic other.

10m present application is limited to a high explosive-or base forhigbexplosives formed by the era-nitration. of cells and. a bydrocarbonand may be practically carried into now in a state in which it may beused as a '55 effect as followsz'Take one of the aromatic base forexplosives or in the manufacture of hydrocarbons-such, for example, asna-phcelluloid. thalen-and bring it to a liquid state by Claims to thehigh explosive or base for heat, or, on account of the ease with whichhigh explosives and nethod of making such naphthalene resublimes whenheatedwe may, explosive or base, formed by the co-nitration y ifdesired,'brin'git toaliquid state by first par of'ce'llul0se;"ahydrocarbon, and a hydroxyl tially nitratingitand then melting-it. Tothe derivative of a hydrocarbon and also by the melted naphthalene weadd cellulose, which o e-nitration of cellulose and a bydroxyl de- 10 ismixed in and macerated with the melted rivative of a hydrocarbon, aremade in our naphthalene. The following proportions will copendingapplication, Serial No. 36,051, filed produce satisfactory results: Twoparts, November 10,1900; by weight, of naphthalene and one part, by Ifwe desire to use this base inproducing weighnof cellulose, and these aremacerated another variety of high explosive, we may r 5 togetherat aboutcentigrade. During the take any number of parts of the co-nitratedmaceration the cellulose fibers will be someproduct above describedaudadd any num 70 what broken up. Afterthe mixture is cooled ber of,parts of one or more oxygen-bearing it will be found to be, friable andless bulky salts. For example, forty parts of the cothan the cellulosealone before it was put in. nitrated product above described and sixty20 A smaller amount of acid, therefore, can be parts of anoxygen-bearing salt, such as soused than is required in the nitration ofceldiuin nitrate, will produee'au efficient high lulose alone.- Themixture thus formed may explosive. For use in firearms and as smokethenbe nitrated by any of the well-known less powder we'inay add to-the'co-nitrated methods that areemployed in the nitration product oneor more of the oxygen-bearing I 25 of cellulose, the strength of theacid varying salts,.an'd we may also add -'a neutral snbaccording to thenitration desired. stance-such, for example, as paraffin, vase- We havefound that an acidmixtureconline, or east-t-r-oil-and to act as adeterrent taining from sixteen to thirty per cent. nitric to prevent'too ,rapid combustion, we have acidaud twenty-five to fifty per cent.sulfuric found that a mixture of seventy parts of 30 acid will producesatisfactory results. such a 'eo-nitration product as above de- Thehereinabove-described mixture of celscribed, twenty -sev"en parts ofbarium nilulose and naphthalene is dipped in the acid' trate, and threeparts of potassium uiti ate mixture in the proportion of about one part,gives satisfactory rbsults'. Such a mixture" by weight, of thecellulose-and-haphthalene may be formed intfig grains of-suitable sizes35 mixture tothree and one-half parts, by weight, and shapes by'any 5fthe well-known means 0f the acid mixture andaliowed to remain usuallyemployed. 9e

for a period of about twenty-four hours, the What we claim is--temperature at time of dipping 30 .centi- 1. All explosive consistingbfacolloided,-

grade and gradually raised up to-about 80 comminuted, friable masscontaining the fol- 4.0 centigrade; The temperature and the time oflowing eo-nitrated substances, viztccllulosc immersion willvary with thenitration de- ,and a-hydrocarbon,substantiallyusspecified. sired, thestrength of the acid, and the rela- 2. The method offormin'ganexplosive-con tive propo 'tion of tlieingreilieuts. Thenitrasisting in nitration together cclluloseand a tion may a so beincreased by renitration or hydrocarbon, substantially as specified. 45by adding a stronger acid mixture after the In-testimonythat we claimthe foregoing m firstreaetion has taken place and the teink as ourvinvention we have signcd'tmr names,, we

peratnre begins to go down. After the nitrainpresence of two witnesses,thie -5th day of tiond is congpletlel, as above described, the June,1900.

pro net is recc rom excess of acid byany k 5-0 of thewell knownmoanssuch-as are em-' ALL ploye'd in the manufacture of nitrocellulose.

It, is thenihoroughly washed in cold and hot Witnesses: v ,waterin olderto completely free it from acid FREDK. HAYNES, and thoroughly pnrify it.'The: product is EDWARD .VJESER.

